Of Wind and Ice
by TayMor
Summary: They thought there were only nine, but there were ten. Meet the feral and socially awkward Aoi Hikami and his sadistic ten tailed demon Horyuu. When a sealing jutsu goes wrong and Hikami is sent to Konoha instead of an alternate plane, what will Hikami and the shinobi from Konoha do? And how will Hikami fit in with Naruto and friends? Discontinued.
1. Of Ice and Blood

**Hey again everyone! Okay, So I decided I had to create another Naruto fanfic, and the idea for this one literally blindsided me! So, here is my story. If you haven't read my other story, please check it out and comment! This story is AU, semi-canon, and I really hope you guys like it! In this story, the juubi is not the one from the canon or Narutopedia or any other source. This is my own creation. Without further ado, here is chapter one!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would not be such a ****_baka_****.**

**Rated T for gore, language, Hidan and lime. You have been warned!**

Normal text represents normal narration.

"Dialogue is in normal text and enclosed in quotations."

_Flashback is in italics._

_'Thoughts are in italics and enclosed by quotes.'_

**'The tailed beasts speak in bold and enclosed in quotes.'**

**Places and time frames are in bold.**

Normal text may sometimes have italics for _effect or emphasis._

_'I don't like the smell I leave behind, Horyuu. It goes everywhere I go, and I don't like it.'_

**_'Kid, that is the smell of unbeatable power. I fucking love that smell,' _**Horyuu replied to Hikami's thought. Hikami rolled his eyes. After being with Horyuu and Horyuu alone for all of his seventeen years, some things didn't surprise him; like Horyuu's love of having an answer to every damned thing he thought. It didn't help that Horyuu had filled him with such a sense of pride in himself, misguided pride, Hikami knew, but it was there and it was a _part of him now_. Hikami pushed aside a frost covered body from where it lay slumped against a wooden pantry. He opened the pantry door and rummaged through its contents.

_'Hmm, rice balls,' _Hikami thought then stuffed the rice ball into his mouth. '_I'm just saying, Horyuu, that the scent of rotting corpses everywhere I go is... I mean I have gotten used to it, but it __**stinks**__,'_ Hikami groused. He couldn't communicate with other humans vocally, but he could communicate with Horyuu, and Horyuu could communicate with him... and that was fine with them both. Hikami lowered blue-fringed lids and sweat-dropped at Horyuu's next statement.

**_'Well, maybe next time you will freeze them enough so that they don't fucking defrost after.' _**Hikami rolled ice-blue eyes at his bijou. He nudged away another corpse, a human female, with his foot. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he always looked. Humans in villages sort of fascinated him.

_'How the fuck am I supposed to do that, Horyuu? You never taught me that.' _Horyuu chuckled darkly within Hikami's mind space, his ice-blue streamers swirling under the place under his large lower jaw.

**_'I was waiting for you to get sick of the scent,'_** the juubi replied with a self-satisfied tone. Hikami grinned, exposing sharp canines and laughed along with his demon. He would be taught. Hikami cocked his head to the side, and examined the item that had been hidden underneath the woman. His waist length bright-blue hair swished over his shoulders as he bent to look closer. A little wooden doll, about the height of his palm, lay on the floor. Hikami picked it up.

_'What is this little human made from trees?' _Hikami asked his bijou curiously. However, Horyuu decided to stop talking at that moment. Probably because he knew it would annoy Hikami, and have him perusing the little doll for hours. It amused Horyuu that someone as powerful as Hikami was fascinated by such simplistic human artefacts, and he allowed Hikami to suspect that it amused him, but he never fully revealed his amusement... which annoyed Hikami... and amused Horyuu some more. Rolling the little doll around in his palm, Hikami strode towards the door of the house and into the daylight, which was exceptionally bright now that the village was covered in bright white snow. Hikami paused at the door of the house and admired his handiwork.

The snowy village was small, and had shinobi, but only a paltry few. Circular in shape, the village had two entrances which were at the two points where the diameter of the village, in the form of a main street, cut the village's circular walls. The residential area was on one side of the main street, and the shinobi buildings, workshops, and other businesses were on the other side of the main street. The entire village was fairly poor, but they managed on crops that they planted in greenhouses in the centre of the business area. Forests pretty much surrounded the village, thinning at the eastern side where the village's East Gate met the road that took it to the other countries. To the north, behind the residential area, was where the wintry forests were thickest, travelling up the ice-capped mountains where Hikami and Horyuu made their lair. On the other side of the mountains was the sea. The west and south of the village were not as thickly forested as the north side, and they went on for miles. The Ice Monk Temple was concealed in these forests.

Hikami had blasted through the north wall with an ice jutsu he had been able to control for as long as he could remember; only it was more powerful now. Blasting away the wall took out not only the wall, but several houses as well. Then the fighting had started. Shinobi had come streaking towards him, but _Horyuu's Gift_ made their attacks useless. _Horyuu's Gift_ had been activated somewhere in Hikami's seventh summer, and was what he used mainly in fights. It used up perhaps one thousandth of his readily available chakra to activate, and gave him a series of benefits that would allow him to fight extremely effectively without having to put on his juubi cloak. No one that he fought was up to his standard, anyway.

Right, so the shinobi had attacked, but had been wiped out with a paralyzing burst of icy mist, then sent to meet their demise after being perforated with thousands of icy projectiles. The icy mist was not the only thing that paralyzed the shinobi. Horyuu got a kick out of distracting Hikami with random conversation just as the shinobi attacked, just so that he could take advantage of Hikami's distraction and send almost visible waves of killing intent flowing from Hikami. There was a saying in that little town – _If it wasn't dismembered, it wasn't a worthy fight. _Hikami's fighting style had created that saying. From a very early age, Horyuu's anger, hatred and sadistic intent towards human-kind had influenced Hikami into pulling apart those opponents that did not go down on the first blow. Hikami allowed himself to remember the first moments of the fight.

_'Ah, the little town of Hikami-haters.' Hikami grinned darkly as he approached the wooden walls of the village. He refused to allow himself to feel that burning pressure in his chest at that thought of the little village that had expressed their hatred for him all his life, until Horyuu retired for the evening. Just a few more hours. Hikami's nose twitched as he took in the unfamiliar scent of the village. There was a warmth about the village that tempted Hikami most days, and that made him hate everything – even Horyuu and himself – some days. He hated that he wanted to experience it so much but was so hated that he would never fit in. There was a scent of something heated over a fire until it burned, but it was a pleasant smell, and it made Hikami's flat stomach clench and make funny noises._

**_'Lock and load,'_**_ Horyuu said with a hint of dark humour as Hikami's hands flew through the familiar hand seals. Ice blasted from Hikami's palms, the sheer force of the frozen water making the wooden walls of the village buckle and splinter. The force pushed new ice into the space created, and blasted through rock, wood and metal in a straight line until a path was created from the northern wall of the village directly through to the main street. Screams and shouts and wails of baby humans filled the air. Hikami rolled his eyes._

**_'Let's wreak some havoc,' _**_Horyuu chuckled, his sadistic excitement leeching into Hikami's body. Shinobi in white fur suits rushed toward the site of the disturbance. __**'You did remember to brush away the stones that were in our sleeping grass before we left out, right?' **__Horyuu asked randomly._

_'What the hell are you talking about?' Hikami returned, even as he felt the burning waves of hatred and killing intent floating off his body in waves. 'Damn it, Horyuu. Again?' Hikami groused. Horyuu chuckled until he coughed._

**_'Whelp. You always fall for it, and look at the effect, ne?' _**_Horyuu finally managed. Sure enough, the younger, less prepared shinobi were frozen in their tracks, their eyes wide with fear. His hands moving through the again familiar seals, Hikami sent a blast of white, frosty air pulsing towards the shinobi._

_'Shut up, Horyuu,' Hikami grumbled inwardly even as he casually blocked blows from the surprisingly plentiful shinobi that had avoided his frost blast. He decided to focus on the fight and block out Horyuu's teasing for now. Moving at an impressive speed, Hikami brought ice to his now sharpened fingernails even as he felt his eyesight getting more intense. His fingernails slid through the throat of the man who had approached him like a knife through butter, and the man's warm blood spewed from his throat and splashed onto Hikami's hands. A feral growl came from Hikami's throat as he watched the light of life leave the eyes of the man as he fell backwards in the reddening snow. But Hikami wasn't done with him. He bit into the man's shoulder with a powerful jaw, clamping his hard, sharp teeth into the man's comparably soft flesh. With his other hand, he sunk his nails into the flesh of the man's arm and ripped the arm from the socket with a sickening 'pop'. He slashed the man across the chest with rigid fingers, feeling the warm of his blood spraying onto his face and bare chest. He grabbed the man's leg and was about to rip it from his torso when a soft shuffle caught his attention._

_Hikami spun around, his blue hair sticking to the wet blood on his face and his eyes catching another man, whose mouth was gaping open and whose eyes were filled with fear. Dragging the first man by the leg and leaving a trail of blood on the white snow in his wake, he growled, his eyes turning purple with feral fighting instinct. He swung the mangled body of the man in his grasp, sending an arc of blood spurting over the snowy area. The body of the first man hit the second squarely in the chest, knocking him off his feet. Hikami dropped the first man on the ground and pounced on the second man while he was in mid-air, ripping and tearing at his chest and limbs. By the time the man's back hit the ground, both arms were ripped from his torso and his head was barely attached to his neck. His face was also unrecognizable. Two kunoichi followed in the fate of the boys, their bodies that were much easier to dismantle. He ripped arms from sockets, cracked legs and snapped necks. A slight whistling sound caught his heightened senses and he ducked in time to avoid a sharp kunai which glinted in the morning sunlight. Spinning around, a dismembered arm still clasped in his fingers, Hikami growled at the offending attacker. A white haired shinobi with a ferocious expression on his face was standing some thirty feet away. Several feet behind him was a trembling bundle that was partially hidden underneath a white cloak. Horyuu chuckled evilly in Hikami's mindscape. It was a chuckle Hikami mirrored. He tossed the mangled arm to the ground._

_Then, he was running towards the man, who refused to back down. Hikami allowed Horyuu to release his wealth of killing intent. The man's eyes widened as the force of the killing intent slammed into him, but he did not back down. Instead, he began throwing a volley of kunai in Hikami's direction. Hikami dodged the first ones without even the slightest effort, but the man then began throwing kunai in patterns. He would throw one, then another and another, then the last one would hit the first one and change its direction. One of these deflected kunai grazed Hikami on the cheek, drawing blood from the resulting cut at the corner of Hikami's mouth. Hikami had to tilt his head and allow the kunai to slice through a lock of his bright blue hair instead of tearing open a split in his cheek. Hikami smiled, revealing canines red with the blood of the shinobi he had sunk his teeth into, and accelerated his speed. This man deserved his respect, and would get receive an end that was suitable._

_Hikami ran towards the man, reaching out with a hand as he approached. His blue hair streaming behind him, Hikami leapt into the air and grabbed hold of the man's shoulder, swung over his shoulder and spun in the air, twisting so his grip on the man's shoulder pushed the man forward, and his feet were forcefully planted in the small of the man's back, sending him face first into the snow. Before the man was halfway down to the snowy ground, Hikami was fully on his back. Gripping the man's shoulder from behind, Hikami plunged the ice-sharpened fingers of his other hand into the flesh of the man's back, snarling darkly when his fingers closed around the man's spinal column. As the man's face hit the ground, Hikami pulled, jerking the man's spinal column from his back with a series of sickening 'pop's. Hikami stood and discarded the grisly prize on the ground beside the man._

_He stalked over to the trembling thing under the blanket and stared at it for two seconds._

_'What was he protecting?' He asked Horyuu._

**_'See for yourself. He cut you, so it must be very precious to him,'_**_ Horyuu returned in a lower than normal tone, even though his veiled attitude made Hikami think that Horyuu knew exactly what was under the cloak. Hikami reached down and threw off the cloak. The removal of the cloak revealed a baby human, maybe four summers alive, with large grey eyes that stared up at him with a sort of fearful solemnity. Hikami frowned and leaned closer to peruse the small creature more carefully. What was he supposed to do with this thing? Logic told him that since the man had fought to protect this thing so much, maybe he should take it. Maybe it was a treasure. It certainly appealed to something protective in him. Deciding that he was too good for such a thing, Hikami turned and left the baby human in the snow, then headed towards the village._

The frost covered town was painted red with blood, and the stench of the dead was more intense than it had been moments before. The dead emptied themselves during the transition from life to death, so the scent of human refuse was high in the frosty air. Hikami scrunched up his nose in distaste and stalked over the mangled corpses littering the ground. He rolled the little tree-trunk human in his fingers as he stalked back towards the wall he had blasted open. A movement stopped him in his tracks. The little human baby. It was still there. It was still looking at him. A sort of pride filled Hikami. _Of course _it was still looking at him. Then it looked down. Hikami was suddenly annoyed. His eyes followed the gaze of the little creature and landed on the little tree-trunk human in his hands. He walked over to the human baby, knelt in front of it and grunted, then stuck out his hand with the item in it for the human's perusal.

In a movement so swift and unexpected that Hikami's eyes widened, the baby human swiped the tiny tree-trunk human from his palm.

"Mine," the baby human said, or rather, garbled, when Hikami glowered at him. The baby tucked the item into her side and folded her arms when Hikami tried to take it back. Hikami jerked his head back at the word and at the actions of the tiny creature.

"M...mine?" Hikami mimicked, trying to form the unfamiliar words in his decidedly deeper voice. The child frowned and waved the item in Hikami's face in a tight-fisted grip.

"Dolly _mine_," the child said, more forcefully this time. Hikami frowned. The child's mannerisms were clearly possessive. Hikami looked to the item. He wanted it. He made eye contact with the child.

"Mine," Hikami said more clearly, mimicking the child's glower. The child frowned harder.

"_Mine_," the child said, struggling to her feet. She didn't even reach Hikami's nose, but she was glowering quite effectively. Hikami allowed a wave of killing intent to flow from his body.

"Mine." He _would_ get that doll. And get it he did... on the nose, for the child struck him in the face with it. It _hurt_!

"NO!" the child screamed. "Dolly is _mine_!" The child's eyes were glistening oddly. Hikami jerked away, rubbing his nose, when liquid pooled in the child's eyes and flowed down her face. A strange pressure and shame filled Hikami then, and he couldn't resist pulling the warm little creature against his bare, bloody chest. Horyuu's annoyed growl snapped Hikami from the child's strange spell. He pushed the little creature away and stepped back. A low drone caught his ears, and he spun round, his eyes widening. How had he not realized that he was surrounded? Was the spell of the child that powerful?

In a circle around him, ten men with shaved heads, bare chests and bulky brownish-orange cloths tied around their waists were sitting cross-legged in meditation formation with their palms clasped together and their eyes closed. They were all chanting and Hikami felt a small jolt, then his surroundings became slightly fuzzy, even with his heightened eyesight. Rage filled him and he started to attack, but found he couldn't move.

The paralysation did not last long however, for Horyuu's rage pushed through it, burning through the chain-looking chakra restraints that were on his body. With a burst of enraged energy, Hikami sped towards the monks. Suddenly, their closed eyes opened simultaneously, their eyeballs shining pure white. Then their clasped hands slapped together in a thunderous clap that dulled Hikami's vision even more than before. Before Hikami was even halfway to the nearest monk, their hands began flying through hundreds of hand seals and their chanting increased in volume. Hikami felt a strange airy feeling overtaking his body, but he fought it tooth and nail. Before long, he was at the first monk. An ice-sharpened hand plunged into the monk's chest which was warm with life, and when it exited, the monk's still pumping heart was in the palm. Hikami knew he had no time for play. Whatever these monks were doing, he should _fight_ and fight _fast_. The monks kept on chanting, even the one without his heart. No matter how much Hikami slashed and bit and pulled at them, they stayed in position, their hands kept doing their seals, and they kept chanting. And the airy feeling was getting so intense Hikami could no longer see anything clearly, and he felt as if he was losing touch with the world. Not only was he unable to move much anymore, Horyuu couldn't push forth his energy anymore. Hikami panicked.

_'Horyuu, what the hell is going on?' _Hikami screamed internally.

**_'They are sealing us. Damn those monks! I thought I killed all the remaining monks that know this technique! They are putting us in an alternate universe, even though something is not quite right. However I look at it though, I think we're done for,'_** Horyuu replied in a grim tone. Hikami screamed out loud as his vision went completely white.

As Hikami's body disappeared from the circle of monks, their chants faded, and one by one, the monks fell forward in death. All save one. He was badly bruised, but not near dead. His eyes still glowed and his hands still flew through the seals. His lone voice chanted, and then there was a pause. There were six words at the end of his chant.

"Konohagakure no Sato. Hi no Kuni." The monk stopped chanting, and bent forward with hands outstretched. He slammed his palms into the icy ground, revealing the kanji for a transportation jutsu with ten concentric circles of binding seals. When the kanji faded, the monk got to his feet. He knew without looking that there were only two out of the three hundred people alive in this village at the moment, and he was one of them. The other was a solemn-eyed little girl named Aiko.

The white slowly faded to reveal colours. There were trees that were green instead of white. The sky was blue instead of grey. The ground was light tan instead of dark brown and white. The air was warm and dry instead of cold and damp. And there was a yellow haired human male with bright blue eyes and whiskers like the mountain foxes on his cheeks... and he was staring at Hikami with a mixture of shock and confusion, but not fear. Where the hell was he?

**A/N: Owkie so this is the first chapter! I know it is a bit gory, but please don't flame me! I would love your reviews so I could see what you think, but I really hope you like so far! Reviews make me type faster!**


	2. The Dragon and the Fox

Chapter 2: The Dragon and the Fox**

**Well, here is chapter two! I hope you like it! Thanks for all who reviewed and followed! (^_^)**

**Disclaimer: Me no ownee Naruo (T^T)**

Normal text represents normal narration.

"Dialogue is in normal text and enclosed in quotations."

_Flashback is in italics._

_'Thoughts are in italics and enclosed by quotes.'_

**'The tailed beasts speak in bold and enclosed in quotes.'**

**Places and time frames are in bold.**

Normal text may sometimes have italics for _effect or emphasis._

* * *

**Previously on OW&I:**

"Konohagakure no Sato. Hi no Kuni." The monk stopped chanting, and bent forward with hands outstretched. He slammed his palms into the icy ground, revealing the kanji for a transportation jutsu with ten concentric circles of binding seals. When the kanji faded, the monk got to his feet. He knew without looking that there were only two out of the three hundred people alive in this village at the moment, and he was one of them. The other was a solemn-eyed little girl named Aiko.

The white slowly faded to reveal colours. There were trees that were green instead of white. The sky was blue instead of grey. The ground was light tan instead of dark brown and white. The air was warm and dry instead of cold and damp. And there was a yellow haired human male with bright blue eyes and whiskers like the mountain foxes on his cheeks... and he was staring at Hikami with a mixture of shock and confusion, but not fear. Where the hell was he?

* * *

The gravel of the road crunched loudly under each of Naruto's footsteps. He was on his way back from an intensive training session at the training ground at the waterfall a good distance outside Konoha's walls… far away because his training usually involved clones, which usually involved extremely destructive jutsus. _'Aahh I am so HUNGRY!' _Naruto thought, shoving his hands into the pockets of his orange trousers and jingling the coins there. _'Seems to be enough for a special beef ramen from Ichiraku's place. Oho, I can't wait!' _Naruto was raising one hand to his growling stomach when there was a flash of demonic chakra followed by a thud and a cloud of dust when something slammed into the road in front him.

When the dust cleared, Naruto found himself looking at a wild-featured male who was about a head taller than he was. The guy looked to be the same age that he was; seventeen. He was crouched in attack position, unruly bright blue hair hanging to his waist and blue eyebrows furrowed into a frown. He was bare-chested, being clothed only in a wide animal pelt that was wrapped around his slim hips. His feet looked powerful enough that even Naruto could recognize that when it came to taijutsu, maybe it would not be wise to go up against this guy. Still there was no evidence of a hitai-ate so Naruto had no idea where he came from. The male shifted, and Naruto's eyes were drawn to his hands, which were dripping blood. _'Wait, there's blood on his face too, but it doesn't seem to be his. Who is this guy?' _Naruto thought as a wave of killing intent blasted him from the male in front him.

"Oi, who are you?" Naruto asked, feeling his guard go up as he dropped to a crouch and prepared himself to attack.

**'Wait a second kid! I know this chakra!" **Kurama suddenly warned from inside the recesses of Naruto's mind as a blast of killing intent slammed Naruto in the chest. Kurama was right… there was a nuance to this chakra… a _feel_ to it that Naruto recognized. Naruto's eyes narrowed. Kurama had recognized Shukaku's chakra as well, way back when Naruto had fought Gaara, but then he and Kurama had hardly been on the best of terms back then so Kurama hadn't exactly warned him.

_'So, who is it?' _Naruto asked, tightening his stance.

**"That's Horyuu, kid. If you can avoid a fight with this guy…"**

_'WHAT? __**Avoid**__ a fight? Why?' _Naruto screamed inwardly.

**"Because he is the Juubi, kid… I'm the Kyuubi… Do you get it squirt? He has ten tails… I have nine…You're not ready to fight this guy, kid. Certainly not now after we've been training all day,"** Kurama replied. Naruto knew his eyes were still wide from shock. The ten tails? Weren't there supposed to only have been nine? Kurama had a point. It would be a suicide mission to try to take on this Horyuu guy right now that his muscles were aching, he was hungry and his chakra was depleted.

Hikami glared at the guy in front him. Who did he think he was? Addressing him directly like that was as if he was asking for his death to be handed to him. Hikami smirked inwardly. This guy had almost no chakra and was crouching as if he was going to put up a fight. Hikami chuckled, how wrong he was! Hikami's intention to attack the guy was replaced by confusion when the guy relaxed his stance, grinned and scratched the back of his head, his fingertips disappearing in his messy blonde-hair.

_'What the hell, Horyuu? What's he doing?'_ Hikami asked his bijuu.

**"Apparently he doesn't consider us a threat, kid. We should probably convince him otherwise, ne?" **Horyuu urged, grinning widely, the streamers under his jaw twirling in the frosty recesses of Hikami's mind.

_'I will do so right now. How dare he underestimate us,' _Hikami thought, growling audibly. The next move the boy made startled Hikami into such profound shock he could not move. The boy took several steps towards him with one arm outstretched and a cheerful grin on his face. Shock gave way to freezing anger. He would regret that. Hikami sent a steady flow of chakra to his fingertips feeling the chakra convert to ice as his vision sharpened under the effects of stage one of Horyuu no Okurimono (_Horyuu's Gift)._

In a move so fast the air stung the bare skin of his forearm and biceps, Hikami struck out at the boy, aiming for his chest. Warmth closed around his wrist, but it was not the wet warmth Hikami was used to feeling. No, something was around his wrist. It was warm, dry and was holding his wrist with the tightest grip Hikami had ever felt. His eyes widening from lack of comprehension, Hikami's eyes shot to his hand. His icy nails were centimeters from the black material covering his opponent's chest, and were held that way by the boy's hand which was wrapped firmly around his wrist. Hikami's eyes travelled up the boy's arm, which was bulging with rippling with muscles not unlike his own, and up to his face. Despite the boy's insane grip on his wrist, there was no strain in his face. Instead, the boy was still grinning widely, his blue eyes sparkling with an emotion Hikami had never seen before. It confused him. Then, the boy spoke.

"Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto… and this," a blast of scorching hot demonic chakra blasted Hikami in the face with a hot, pure, evil pulse of killing intent. "This is Kurama," the boy finished.

Naruto watched surprise, confusion and wariness march across the boy's eyes, which were now a light purplish colour. On the outside, Naruto was smiling, but inside, his mind was racing.

_'Shit! Kurama, you crazy fox bastard! He was fast! What the hell do I do now?'_ Naruto screamed inwardly.

**"I don't know, kid. I didn't even remember Horyuu was still alive… he hasn't exactly been around for a while. Just try to avoid knocking fists with this guy. His chakra is huge,"**Kurama replied, not at all helpfully. Naruto directed his attention back to the guy whose wrist he was still holding in a death grip. The guy's waist length hair was still streaming behind him in the breeze created by his ultra-swift movement. His eyes were furrowing again in an expression Naruto had seen on Gaara's face years ago. However, Naruto was reminded that Subaku no Gaara, Ichibi jinchuuriki was one of his closest friends right now, closer than his very teammates, so maybe there was hope for this guy. Knowing the guy was a jinchuuriki made Naruto painfully aware that his life could not have been easy.

"Oi, I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto repeated, making sure his voice wasn't the least bit threatening. The boy blinked, yanked his hand away and took three steps back. "Naruto," Naruto said again, touching himself in the chest. _'Is this guy dense or what? Doesn't he know how to introduce himself?' _Naruto mused inwardly. Kurama only chuckled in response. _'Hopefully he won't attack me, now that I am being so damn friendly,'_ Naruto mumbled to Kurama. The guy leaned his head to one side, sending bright blue hair tumbling over one muscular shoulder, his killing intent fading to almost nothing. However it flared up again when Naruto took a small step forward.

Naruto raised both hands; palms open in the universal sign of peace and grinned again. He repeated his name once more, making sure he didn't make any sudden movements.

"Na…ru…to?" the blue-haired jinchuuriki mimicked in a deep, husky voice that carried a hesitant note that made Naruto think that he wasn't one that spoke often. The faint curiosity in the boy's mannerisms sent an image of a blue Akamaru flitting about in his mind. He chuckled at the image, but was forced to swallow his hilarity when an offended look came into the boy's eyes.

"Uh huh," Naruto replied, nodding. He pointed to himself again and said, "Naruto."

"Naruto," the boy repeated more clearly while pointing at Naruto. "Naruto." Naruto felt his grin widen. Finally, they were getting somewhere. This was good. At least the introduction had distracted the boy somewhat and his hostility was replaced with curiosity. He looked like he might be pretty cool… in an adorable doggy sort of way. Now that he introduced himself, the rest should be easy, right?

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, pointing to the boy and smiling. At this, the boy frowned.

"Who… aru?" he attempted, tilting his head to the side. Naruto groaned.

"Naruto," he said, pointing to himself. Then he pointed to the boy and repeated his question. "Who are you?"

"Who," the boy mimicked, frowning again in concentration. "Are… you?" he finished, looking to Naruto for confirmation. Naruto exhaled in exasperation. Naruto was wondering what to do next when a friendly bark caught his attention. Turning round, Naruto saw Kiba and Akamaru trotting up to them.

"Yo! Naruto!" Kiba called. "What's up, man?" he said, bumping fists with Naruto as he came to a stop next to him. "Who's this?" he said, gesturing towards the blue-haired jinchuuriki with his chin. Naruto sighed.

"I don't know. He appeared in the road, but it doesn't look like he speaks Japanese. I'm trying to find out his name now."

Hikami growled. He was waiting to see how this blonde fellow dealt with this villager. It was obvious that the blonde guy was like him, with a beast inside, but the villager treated him like just another villager… as if they had a connection. Something was wrong, yet Hikami felt an unpleasant twinge in his chest finding that the connection between Naruto and this other fellow with red marks on his cheeks brought him displeasure. He did not know what the blonde was trying to tell him, but he had repeated it well. Even then, he was feeling uncomfortable and a bit silly, because Horyuu was laughing at him. Horyuu was still laughing at him and it was annoying. The boy turned his attention back to Hikami. He pointed to himself and spoke.

"Naruto." Hikami blinked. He knew that word already.

"Naruto," he repeated confidently, smirking.

"Kiba," the boy said, pointing at the guy with the red marks on his cheeks.

"Ki…ba?" Hikami responded slowly. Where was this guy going with this?

"Akamaru," the boy continued, pointing to the large dog that had accompanied the guy with the red marks on his cheeks.

"Akamaru," Hikami replied, proud that he could repeat almost anything this guy threw at him. Then, the boy pointed to him and stopped speaking as if waiting for Hikami to… to do what exactly?

"Naruto," the newcomer said. The blonde guy turned to the newcomer and grinned. "Akamaru," the newcomer continued. The dog barked.

"Oi, Kiba," the blonde guy said, and the newcomer grinned. Hikami finally got it.

**"Kid,"**Horyuu gasped in the midst of his laughter. **"You can be so dense. Kill these fools and let's be done with it." **Hikami frowned.

_'No. I want to say things like them. So others can hear. How do I say my name?' _Hikami said. He _would _get this. Horyuu sighed and rolled his eyes.

**"Fine. Draw the pictures I put in your head."** Hikami knelt on the ground and waited.

"What's he doing?" Kiba murmured as the blue-haired jinchuuriki knelt on the ground. Naruto shrugged.

"I have no idea. Let's just hope it's not a summons or some crazy jutsu," Naruto said peering at the boy on the ground. His fingers were moving as he drew something on the ground. The boy drew the kanjis for 'Hi', 'Ka' and 'Mi'. Then he stood. "Hi… ka… mi…" Naruto read. "Ah, Hikami," Naruto said grinning. He flung his arm around Hikami's shoulder and grinned. "Awesome, you did it!" Beside him, Kiba was chuckling and Akamaru barked happily, giving Hikami a doggy grin. Without warning, Hikami jerked himself away from them and disappeared. Naruto turned to Kiba, confusion and disappointment overshadowing his happiness.

"What the hell just happened?" Kiba facepalmed.

"I should have realized. He's feral… so maybe we touched him too soon. Next time we have to wait until he seems comfortable enough for contact before we touch him at all," Kiba replied, resting a hand on Akamaru's head. Naruto's shoulders drooped.

"That's if there is even a next time," he mumbled. Kiba flung his arm over Naruto's shoulders.

"Aah, don't worry, Naruto-kun. He'll be back." Naruto turned to Kiba.

"How do you know? He left pretty fast." He sighed and plunged his hands into his pockets.

"He liked you," Kiba said, grinning. "He's not far. Most likely he will tail us for the day and watch us just to see what type of people we are." At this, Naruto started looking around at the trees that rimmed the road.

"Really? Do you see him anywhere? Where is he?" Kiba sweatdropped.

"Be patient, Naruto. Most likely we will feel him watching us later on. C'mon, let's get some ramen, ne, Naruto," Kiba said grinning. "Maybe we'll see some of the others, right?"

* * *

Naruto was getting slightly fed up with the waiting. He wasn't good at waiting, damn it! And what about that blue-haired Hikami… Naruto could feel the guy's purplish eyes staring at him all day, but he couldn't find him anywhere. He just wanted to make sure the other jinchuuriki was all right. Kiba said he was feral… that meant he had no friends right? Naruto couldn't even empathize; because he had had Sarutobi jii-san, and Iruka, then Kakashi… to have no one at all would be worse, right?

Naruto sighed impatiently, glancing towards the door of his apartment. Kiba could be wrong. Hopefully Kiba was wrong. He had been wrong before, right? Because Kiba said that Hikami would show up again, and Naruto had stayed awake hours past his usual bedtime, waiting… but Hikami had not shown up. Naruto stared longingly at his bed… he was exhausted.

_'Maybe Hikami will show up tomorrow,'_ Naruto thought, giving in to his desire to get some sleep. He crawled into bed, and stared at the moon through the open window above his bed. _'I hope the blue-haired kid is alright,' _Naruto thought lazily as the cool Konoha breeze drifted through the window, cooling his body. It was his last thought before sleep claimed him.

* * *

Hikami watched Naruto all evening. He had come to the conclusion that the blonde was strange. He carried a demon inside, like Hikami did, but it did not seem to faze him at all. This guy seemed to be loved by almost everyone. He had close friends and he laughed a lot. Hikami frowned from his perch in the tree overlooking Naruto's home in the village. Naruto had strange customs. The blonde had sat down in a room for hours doing absolutely nothing. Hikami was curious.

_'I'm going to take a closer look,'_ Hikami told Horyuu. The dragon only released an amused chuckle. Hikami's curiosity overshadowed his pride and he edged his way to the open window of the now dark sleeping area that Naruto occupied. The tree branch dipped precariously under his weight and Hikami's eyes flew open in shock as he felt himself hurtling forward.

**"You have the worst stealth mode ever," **Horyuu groaned, a large sweatdrop sliding down his forehead as Hikami slid from the branch and through the open window of Naruto's apartment.

* * *

**A/N:- Urk… sorry for taking so long. I really thought I would have been able to get this out to you quicker! However, my other two stories, Left to the Elements and I Wish You Would Look at Me had other ideas…. *sweat-drop* Please let me know what you all think!**


	3. What is that?

Chapter 3: What is that?

**Tanaa! You forgot about this, didn't you? Well it has been haunting me for a time! Here goes and sorry for the wait!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: Me no ownee Naruo (T^T)**

Normal text represents normal narration.

"Dialogue is in normal text and enclosed in quotations."

_Flashback is in italics._

_'Thoughts are in italics and enclosed by quotes.'_

**_'The tailed beasts speak in bold italics and enclosed in quotes_****.'**

**Places and time frames are in bold.**

Normal text may sometimes have italics for _effect or emphasis._

* * *

_**Previously, in OW&I…**_

Hikami watched Naruto all evening. He had come to the conclusion that the blonde was strange. He carried a demon inside, like Hikami did, but it did not seem to faze him at all. This guy seemed to be loved by almost everyone. He had close friends and he laughed a lot. Hikami frowned from his perch in the tree overlooking Naruto's home in the village. Naruto had strange customs. The blonde had sat down in a room for hours doing absolutely nothing. Hikami was curious.

_'I'm going to take a closer look,'_ Hikami told Horyuu. The dragon only released an amused chuckle. Hikami's curiosity overshadowed his pride and he edged his way to the open window of the now dark sleeping area that Naruto occupied. The tree branch dipped precariously under his weight and Hikami's eyes flew open in shock as he felt himself hurtling forward.

**"You have the worst stealth mode ever," **Horyuu groaned, a large sweatdrop sliding down his forehead as Hikami slid from the branch and through the open window of Naruto's apartment.

* * *

Naruto was awake before Hikami breached his window, and rolled swiftly out of bed to avoid a collision. He was on guard before his eyes so much as opened, and when they did, the blue orbs lit up with pleasant surprise.

"Hikami-kun!" the blonde exclaimed enthusiastically. "You're back!" The blue haired jinchuuriki stood up quickly, an embarrassed flush pushing to his pale cheeks at the thought that his clumsy entry into Naruto's house was seen. He grunted in reply, trying to ignore Horyuu's deep belly laughs from inside his mindscape.

"Back," he mimicked, pinning Naruto with his icy stare. Naruto only grinned in response and scratched the back of his head.

"So, are you hungry?" the blonde asked, touching his own stomach and looking at Hikami curiously. "Do you want to eat?" he continued, making eating gestures. Hikami blinked at him, unsure of how to respond.

"Yes?" Naruto asked, smiling and nodding his head. "Or no?" he continued, frowning and shaking his head from side to side. Hikami considered for a moment before nodding. He was rather hungry.

"No," he said while nodding slowly. Was that the correct way? If possible, Naruto's eyes lit up even more, and an amused grin stretched his lips.

"You mean, yes," Naruto corrected, nodding. Hikami mimicked him, embarrassed that he'd not been able to say the correct words.

"Okay! I have ramen! It's the best!" he exclaimed, backing from the room and beckoning for Hikami to follow. Horyuu was strangely silent, as if he too was confused by the blonde's behavior and startling lack of anything that could be labeled as animosity or falseness.

Hikami slowly took in his surroundings as he followed Naruto. The floor of Naruto's home was hard and cool, unlike the dirt floors of the huts in the village he was accustomed to. The walls were also much sturdier looking and the whole place had an unfamiliar scent. It was also, to Hikami, rather hot. Instead of the single room huts he was used to seeing, Naruto's living space had passages and several rooms, filled with strange things that Hikami was dying to learn about.

"Okay. This is the kitchen. Kitchen," Naruto said, pointing to a room with strange metal objects with knobs and wooden boxes with doors.

"Kitchen," Hikami repeated, committing the word to memory. Naruto moved around in the kitchen, chattering with words Hikami did not understand in the least. Still, it was very enjoyable to have someone speaking to him like this. It had never happened before, and Hikami was suddenly conscious that he would hate for it to go back to the silence. Naruto opened one of the doors to the wooden boxes mounted on the wall. Hikami pointed to it.

"… and it's really cool. Oh, this?" Naruto asked, touching the wooden box. "This is a cupboard," he said, tapping his index finger repeatedly on the item.

"Cupboard," Hikami repeated, frowning slightly in concentration on the item. So this kitchen had cupboards, then. Naruto took an item with a strange skin on it from the cupboard and set it down on….

"Hmmm," Hikami mumbled, tapping the flat surface Naruto had put the item on.

"That is a counter. Counter," Naruto said slowly. "And this, is ramen," he added, shaking the item he'd taken from the cupboard. As Naruto proceeded to take things out of cupboards, Hikami learned several new words, some of which were, pot, stove, fire, water, hot, noodle, beef and food. He even learned a set of words people used when they wanted to find out what something was.

"What is that?" Hikami enunciated slowly, pointing to two sticks Naruto had in his hand.

"These are chopsticks," Naruto said. "We use them to eat," he explained, pretending to eat with them. Hikami used the word the tiny human from his home had taught him, because he wanted chopsticks too.

"Mine," he said, extending his open palm expectantly. Naruto blinked, and then grinned, handing the chopsticks over to him. Wait… wasn't he supposed to fight for it?

Naruto poured water into the pot and put it on the stove. He turned a knob and fire appeared from little circular mounds on the stove, directly underneath the pot. Before long, the water in the pot was filled with hundreds of tiny bubbles. Hikami watched all this with rapt attention, soaking in the names of everything he could point to.

Naruto seemed to be enjoying his company, and had no problem giving him the names of each and every item he indicated. The blonde took two more items from the cupboard.

"Pot?" Hikami asked, pointing at them. He remembered that shape. Unfortunately, Naruto shook his head. That meant 'no'.

"No," Naruto said. "This is a bowl." Hikami frowned, testing out the new word on his lips. Naruto emptied the ramen into each bowl and then poured the hot water on top. Almost immediately, a wondrous scent rose from the bowl. Hikami's interest was piqued instantly. He moved closer and took a look.

Inside the bowl, the noodles were becoming fatter and softer looking. Strange! He darted a glance at Naruto, who was grinning in pleasure. Apparently this was the desired effect. Interesting…

"Now, it is time to eat," Naruto said, pushing a bowl in front of Hikami and sliding one in front of himself.

"Time to eat," Hikami echoed.

"Itadakimasu," Naruto said, snapping his chopsticks apart. Hikami did the same, stumbling slightly over the long word. He waited for Naruto to continue. Naruto wielded the chopsticks with one hand, sticking them into the bowl and pulling them back up with noodles and beef hanging from them. Hikami tried, but failed miserably. He scowled at the offensive items.

His old way of eating was much more efficient.

He stuck his fingers into the bowl, before yanking them back out with a pained yelp. He sent a sheepish gaze Naruto's way.

"Hot," they said at the same time, before grinning. Naruto rested down his chopsticks and beckoned Hikami into the kitchen. Not seeing any need to distrust the blonde, Hikami followed him to what he knew now was the sink. Turning the knobs made water come out of the faucet.

Naruto turned the knob at the top, and water came pulsing forth. Naruto took Hikami's hand and guided it to the water. It was cool, and soothed his burned fingers. Hikami could easily have pushed ice to his fingertips, but he'd been so distracted that it hadn't come to mind.

Naruto handed Hikami a towel to dry his hands – something which Hikami found rather strange – and showed him how to use the chopsticks.

Hikami grinned in triumph when he managed to get a whole noodle up to his mouth. It was delicious! He wanted more! He attacked the contents of his bowl with gusto, making pleasured sounds with every taste.

"Amazing, ne?" Naruto exclaimed, an expression of pure delight on his face.

"Amazing!" Hikami echoed, taking this word to mean something positive. Being the quick learner that he was, it only took Hikami a small amount of time to be able to handle the chopsticks decently enough to eat the majority of the solid food in the ramen. Then, he followed Naruto's lead, raised the bowl to his lips, and drank the remaining broth.

He had never had such wonderful tasting food before! He wanted more, but how to ask for it?

"Ramen," he demanded, pushing his bowl at Naruto. Naruto nodded knowingly.

"You want more?" he asked, heading towards the cupboard again.

"Yes," Hikami responded, hoping that this was the correct response this time. Evidently, it was, because Naruto took another package of ramen from the cupboard and set more water on the stove. Hikami was convinced that he could eat ramen alone for the rest of his life. Indeed, it was getting hard to wait for the bubbles to appear in the water.

Hikami moved just as a gust of wind blew in from the window, and a strange look came over Naruto's face. Suddenly, the male lost his cheerful expression to a more somber, contemplative one. Hikami began to feel slightly uncomfortable. What was happening? It was then that Horyuu returned to the surface of his mindscape.

**_'You probably should have killed him already,' _**the tailed beast muttered with a dark chuckle. **_'Who knows what he is coming with now…'_** The notion that this experience was over, and he would have to kill this man was displeasing to Hikami. He didn't want to do it at all. Who else would tell him what everything was?

Naruto's eyes suddenly brightened.

"Hikami, come with me," he said, his cheerful expression back in full force. He backed from the kitchen and into the hallway. Hikami followed, frowning and distrustful. He wasn't entirely sure that this was a good idea, but his determination to trust Naruto sent Horyuu off to the depths of Hikami's mind where he would sulk for a while at being ignored.

"This is the bathroom," Naruto declared, stepping into a small room. It had a strange stick jutting from the wall that looked like a faucet, but was much higher up and had no sink or knobs above it. Along one wall, there was a faucet and sink and also a strange white shiny object that was oval shaped with a cube-like structure on top. Whatever did one do in such a place?

Kitchens were for ramen, obviously, but what did one do here?

"Shower," Naruto said, pointing to the strange faucet on the wall. Next, he reached for a white oval object that had a wonderful, inexplicable scent emanating from it.

"This is soap," Naruto said. He turned on the shower, and water came out. Then, Naruto stuck the soap under the water, and rubbed his hands over it. Immediately, white frothy bubbles appeared and the scent of the soap got even stronger.

"Hot?" Hikami asked, pointing to the bubbles. He took a step away from the white bubbles.

"No," Naruto said with a smile. He reached a soapy hand for Hikami's. The white bubbles did not seem to be bothering Naruto, so Hikami stuck out his hand. "Dirty," Naruto continued, pointing to Hikami's dirty arm. He rubbed the soap over Hikami's skin and then rinsed it with water. When the soap was all gone, so was the dirt, and there was a cool, fresh feeling on the clean spot.

"Clean," Naruto said with a grin. Hikami frowned as he thought. This was a strange item, for sure. But Naruto was not yet finished. He took out an item from a cupboard – yes the bathroom had some too – that looked like a towel, but was thinner and smaller.

"What is that?" Hikami asked.

"This is a washcloth," Naruto elaborated. He soaped up the rag and ran it over the length of Hikami's arm, scrubbing gently. It was smooth… but yet rough, and Hikami couldn't resist a chuckle at the feeling. Suddenly, the rest of his body did not feel satisfactory at all. When Naruto rinsed the water off, Hikami decided that he would try this soap on every part of his body.

Naruto ushered Hikami into the shower and rubbed the soapy cloth over his back. He handed him the cloth and motioned for him to remove his furs. Hikami scowled. He never removed his furs.

"No," he stated flatly.

"Take them off," Naruto replied, just as flatly. The two males stared each other down before Naruto's steady gaze, joined by Hikami's confusion, won.

Hikami removed his furs a bit reluctantly and took the soapy cloth from Naruto. The blonde stepped away and turned his back, giving Hikami some privacy. Hikami was not sure whether he understood the blonde's motives, but he proceeded to rub the cloth over every inch of his body. He managed to get every nook and cranny, and when the water cascaded over him, he felt like a completely new person.

It felt, in a word, amazing.

He wanted to do it again.

"Naruto… More," Hikami demanded. "More soap. More washcloth. More water." Naruto turned around, grinning, and rinsed the washcloth clean before soaping it up again and handing it back to Hikami.

Hikami repeated the process, marveling at how good it felt. He wanted to do this and have ramen all the time.

When he was finished, Naruto took a bottle from the corner of the shower and poured a thick white substance into his palm. When he applied water and rubbed it together, more bubbles formed.

"Soap?" Hikami asked, looking intently at the bubbles in Naruto's palm. These smelled different to the soap he'd used.

"No, this is shampoo," Naruto declared. "It's for hair." He promptly slapped the handful of suds to his head and began rubbing it around. A humongous frothy pile of bubbles appeared on his head, which Naruto rinsed out after a bit more rubbing.

"Clean?" Hikami asked. That's what the white bubbles did right? They changed dirty to clean. Naruto nodded, and Hikami grinned proudly. He liked to get things correct.

"Now you try," Naruto said, handing Hikami the bottle. Hikami poured the cool cream into his palm and shoved it under the water. Then, he rubbed his hands together, chuckling at the bubbles that formed. This was fun. More fun that the moments he'd spent back in the wintry woods with nothing to do.

He put the suds into his hair and rubbed it around. Apparently he was not doing it the right way, because Naruto approached him and beckoned for him to sit. Then Naruto's strong fingers began working the shampoo into his hair, scrubbing at his scalp as he did so.

It felt wonderful.

Then Naruto began washing the long blue strands that hung down Hikami's back. When he rinsed it out, Hikami took a look in what Naruto called a 'mirror' – it was like a pond, but perfectly still and quite hard – and his eyes widened when he saw his reflection. Was his hair really that bright?

By the time an hour had passed, Naruto was almost done combing the last knots out of Hikami's hair while Hikami tucked into his fifth bowl of ramen. Naruto had given Hikami a pair of shorts to wear and a black T-shirt, and although they were rather strange, Hikami found the clothing comfortable; much more so than his furs had been in the oppressive heat.

It was in the wee hours of the morning by now, and Hikami could tell that Naruto was growing weary.

But apparently, rest was not something the blonde would get much of tonight, because there was a soft rapping from the front door and the blonde immediately jerked to a more alert position. Hikami could feel the chakra of the person at the door.

Naruto set the comb down and moved to the door. Immediately, Hikami was on guard. Were they coming to take his new friend from him? That was thoroughly unacceptable!

Naruto opened the door, and Hikami came up behind him, interested to see who was outside.

He stared into a pair of wide, beautiful grey eyes.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing at the newcomer.

* * *

**Okay, so I know this chapter may have come over a bit stilted and rather slow, but it was necessary, and I have to find back my vibe for this story! Hopefully, I will be updating much more regularly for this!**

**Please review!**


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